Commissioner Cavoukian’s submission in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s December 2010 preliminary staff report Framework for Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change. The Commissioner offers comments on each of the four Framework elements: Scope; Privacy by Design; Consumer Choice; and Transparency. The submission includes an announcement of a new development in the interpretation of the second Foundational Principle of Privacy by Design in the context of online tracking and marketing: a new “two-step” process, which makes it possible to achieve the spirit of Default Privacy in situations where the existing industry practice presents a barrier to achieving the principle directly, right from the outset.

With respect to the level of protection extended to personal data, I strongly believe that personal information must be protected at a level commensurate with its sensitivity. For example, medical
data is among the most sensitive types of data, followed perhaps by financial data. The collection,
use, and disclosure of such sensitive information must be afforded the strongest protection possible.